[northcoastgreg]

What a remarkable creature! I am finding that for birding, I can use iso 800 without any reservation. It is the best performing APS-C body that I have used when it comes to iso, not only noise control, but also color at iso 800 is just superb

That's been my experience as well. I'm comfortable going all the way up to ISO 3200 (although that would be pushing it for large prints).

Hopefully the KP gets APS_c back to where it was.

The KP gets it back and then some. I never shot with any of the K-3 cameras, so I can't compare the KP to those devices. The KP has at least as good DR as the K-5 series of cameras and a half to three-quarter stop ISO advantage. And the KP raw files, even at comparable ISOs, are just a tad richer.

Nicobar pigeon with the DA* 300 and DA 1.4x converter, ISO 3200:

[BruceBanner]

Hello Bruce,

ES, electronic shutter makes no use of the mechanical shutter curtain opening and closing for exposure.
Instead, the mechanical shutter is open, and for exposure, the sensor activates row upon row of pixels and these are read out (recorded). This takes around 1/10s with the Pentax KP. Anything in the frame moving in this time space will be captured in a distorted way, depending on how fast it moves and how much of the frame height it fills. Stationary birds are fine, but fast moving birds are only possible with a sensor with very short readout time (like the Olympus EM1mkII or the Sony A9), or of course with a camera that has a global electronic shutter, where the entire sensor is activated and read out at once. But this is still very much a thing of future cameras, needing a lot of processing power.
The good thing is: ES is possible on a conventional dslr through the viewfinder, although you will have viewfinder blackout (only avoidable on a mirrorless camera). Bad thing: current sensor read out times are not fast enough for practical use with fast moving objects yet, except with thr top end bodies like the Sony A9.

Chris

Thanks for a detailed explanation. I knew some of that, as I use ES mode in a few scenarios, mainly snapping public speakers without drawing attention (I actually save this mode as 'Ninja Mode'!) hehe. What I noticed between the KP and K-1 is the KP is far far quieter in ES mode, can use with AF.C, continuous burst shooting and even through the OVF, all of which I think the K-1's ES mode cannot do.

I was not aware of the way in which ES works, the 1/10s thing, making it not ideal for faster moving things (public speakers are just not that fast lol).

So it sounds like some cameras, especially if wildlife is your thing and you either want to avoid shutter shock or just be super still and quiet, ES is important, and some brands do it better (faster than 1/10s) etc.

Good to know, thanks.

[Ex Finn.]

read out (recorded). This takes around 1/10s

During readout the sensor is not gathering any additional photons.
Therefore no additional distortion during readout or am I missing something here?

[longbow]

Sure sign of Spring is when the Trilliums start blooming, taken with the DA 16-85

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Last edited by longbow; 04-05-2018 at 03:55 AM.

[Chris Mak]

During readout the sensor is not gathering any additional photons.
Therefore no additional distortion during readout or am I missing something here?

With electronic first curtain shutter (EFCS) yes, but with the fully electronic shutter on the KP, the pixel rows are set and recorded sequentially from top to bottom, and the mechanical shutter stays open all this time. It takes 1/10s to complete a full sensor readout. So anything fast moving will have changed postion in the frame during this time, which leads to a distorted image.

[bobbotron]

That's been my experience as well. I'm comfortable going all the way up to ISO 3200 (although that would be pushing it for large prints).



The KP gets it back and then some. I never shot with any of the K-3 cameras, so I can't compare the KP to those devices. The KP has at least as good DR as the K-5 series of cameras and a half to three-quarter stop ISO advantage. And the KP raw files, even at comparable ISOs, are just a tad richer.

Nicobar pigeon with the DA* 300 and DA 1.4x converter, ISO 3200:

Very nice!!

[Ex Finn.]

With electronic first curtain shutter (EFCS) yes, but with the fully electronic shutter on the KP, the pixel rows are set and recorded sequentially from top to bottom, and the mechanical shutter stays open all this time. It takes 1/10s to complete a full sensor readout. So anything fast moving will have changed postion in the frame during this time, which leads to a distorted image.

I think I understand.
My daughter is a birder, uses a K100D with DA 55-300 with some impressive results.
Just remembered a comment she made couple days ago "darn they are fast moving"

Changing position should not result in a distorted image however. Unless during pixel shift exposure.

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Last edited by Ex Finn.; 04-05-2018 at 07:12 PM. Reason: shift... :0

[robtcorl]

Changing position should not result in a distorted image however. Unless during pixel shift exposure.

Fixed it for you my Ex Finn friend.

[Ex Finn.]

Thank you sir.

[rod_grant]

KP with Sigma150-500 really heavily cropped (1317 x 1317)

[deezy339]

KP + 31mm in Philly!

[northcoastgreg]

Very nice!!

Thanks. With the DA 21:

[bobbotron]

Thanks. With the DA 21:

That's fantastic, you should get it printed!

[tbelf]

with the 43 + 28/ 3.5 :

[BruceBanner]

Thanks. With the DA 21:

It is a great shot, my one gripe with it (as with my own coloured waterfall work) is that sometimes you get a brown colouring in the stream, seen only really in the lower portion of the fall in your shot. I have a few shots that are so brown and peaty at times that I've just bailed out and did a monochrome conversion to get rid of what can be a pretty unattractive sight.
With a shot like yours I'd be tempted to try some desaturation brush strokes or something to try and get the lower fall looking as white and fresh as the upper looks. I know I know... not exactly that represents what was seen on the day, it is 'faking it' etc, but then even doing slo mo shots in the first place aren't exactly true to form, I guess it depends where you're happy with 'bending the truth' hehe.